Shane Victorino has been a gaping hole in the Red Sox batting order so far this season, especially against righthanded pitching.

BOSTON ó The persistent inability of the Red Sox to score runs has cast a harsh spotlight on the teamís decision to rely heavily on three unproven youngsters at the back end of their batting order. Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and, before his broken finger, Will Middlebrooks all have struggled to put together consistently productive at-bats through the first seven weeks of the season.

But there have been teams who have thrived despite getting minimal production from the bottom third of the order. Minimal production from the top of the batting order is more difficult to overcome ó and a Red Sox team that led the American League last season in production from its first two hitters is a below-average team in that department this season.

Itís tempting to look solely at the departure of Jacoby Ellsbury ó which undoubtedly is a factor. Leadoff hitter Dustin Pedroia is not the same dynamic player that Ellsbury was for the Red Sox. No one would confuse the two.

But Pedroia is capable of getting on base at a rate of .370 or better, of stealing bases, of scoring from first on a double into the gap. Pedroia has been one of the best hitters in the league for eight years. Heís tied for second in the American League in doubles. Whether heís hitting first or second, Pedroia isnít what ails this Red Sox team.

Behind Pedroia, however, has been Shane Victorino ó and the former switch-hitter has been a gaping hole in the Red Sox batting order so far this season, especially against righthanded pitching.

When the Red Sox face a lefthanded pitcher, Victorino rakes. Heís hitting .421 with a .474 slugging percentage in his opportunities against lefties since he returned from the disabled list. Heís doing everything the Red Sox need him to do in those opportunities.

But when the Red Sox face a righthanded pitcher ó as they have in more than two-thirds of their collective plate appearances ó Victorino has been silenced. Heís hitting just .222 with a .271 on-base percentage and a .333 slugging percentage against righties. Itís a marked departure from last season, when he hit .300 with a .386 on-base percentage and a .510 slugging percentage against righties after he gave up switch-hitting in early August.

Donít laugh. Victorino was hit by 11 pitches from righthanded pitchers after he gave up switch-hitting last season. His .386 on-base percentage was terrific, but more than 95 points of that came from those hit-by-pitches. His on-base percentage against righties last season falls to .317 if one eliminates those 11 plate appearances from the equation.

Some hitters have shown a propensity to be hit by a number of pitches year after year, driving up their on-base percentage with every bruise. Carlos Quentin is one. Kevin Youkilis was another.

Victorino has not been not such a hitter. Before he was hit by 18 pitches last season, plus another seven in the postseason, he hadnít been hit by 10 or more pitches in a season since 2007. Heíd been hit by seven or fewer pitches every season since.

In other words, Victorinoís black-and-blue boost looked like something of a fluke ó a result of pitchers failing to adjust to his decision to give up switch-hitting. Given an offseason to prepare, those pitchers have adjusted.

Of the 44 players who were hit by at least 15 pitches from 2006-12, all but four saw that total diminish the following year ó by an average of seven pitches across the board. It would not have been a smart bet to expect Victorino again to boost his on-base percentage by almost 100 percent by being hit by pitches.

Sure enough, so far this season, Victorino has been hit by one pitch. His numbers have suffered accordingly.

And with the benefit of hindsight, those hit-by-pitches now look like a mirage that fooled the Red Sox into viewing Victorino as a top-of-the-order hitter capable of setting the table for David Ortiz and Mike Napoli against righthanded pitching. Even when he was a switch-hitter, Victorino always was a better hitter against lefties than against righties. Only once in his career has he ever gotten on base at a clip better than .350 against righties.

(That skill set served Victorino well when he hit in front of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in Philadelphia, two terrific lefthanded hitters who could mask his struggles against righties.)

That Victorino struck out 25 times and drew just three walks when hitting right-on-right last season was, in retrospect, perhaps another ominous sign. Thatís a difficult ratio to maintain while still putting up numbers elsewhere, especially without an elevated batting average on balls in play.

Victorino continues to be a capable major-league hitter, particularly against lefthanded pitching. Heís also a terrific defensive right fielder capable of turning doubles into singles and singles into outs.

But against righthanded pitching, Victorino has become far too frequent of an out.